Pound for Pound

Pre-Race Nerves
Only a couple of days to go - and already I have pre-race nerves. Rasping throat - hope it is just nerves and not another cold.

Pre-Race Training
Settling in the new shoes - done 13 miles in them so far. Feel good.
Time to “taper” training now - so no more runs before the day.

Charity Boost
The RUH Bath Forever Friends Appeal for £650,000 to buy a Gamma-CT scanner has been boosted by the Chairman of the Appeal, John Cullum the High Sheriff of Somerset, offer to match £1 for £1 all donations up to £200,000, as reported in the Bath Chronicle.

Now that is something you don’t get every day - a charity appeal with a BOGOF element!

Sponsors
So while I am pounding the streets how about putting up your Pounds?
And each one “buys” another pound. Plus - Don’t forget to gift aid it.

Offers of sponsorship have been coming in by phone, email and other. Please keep them coming.

Collection
Donate on my Just Giving page.
Or meet me in the pub.

Luigi and the Boys will be coming round to collect after the race is over!

White-van-man singing the bluegrass

Forever Friends Appeal for the RUH Bath

Local Appeal
Please help me support one of my local charities that is linked to the Bath Half Marathon.

The Forever Friends Appeal for the Royal United Hospital (RUH) Bath is seeking to raise £650,000 for new technology to help the quick and accurate diagnosis of:-

• cancers
• heart disease
• bone pain
• neurological disorders.

This will combine the features of a Gamma Camera and a CT Scan the result being a better picture to identify and pinpoint anomolies. Another benefit is that patients only go through one procedure rather than two.

After my 13.2 miles half marathon I wont need such advanced technology to identify the source of my aches and pains.

Please give generously.

My Just Giving Page
As last year I have set up a page linked to the charity of my choice. This makes online donations easy and if you tick the right boxes the taxman makes a contribution too. If you are a UK taxpayer.

For those of you who dont like online giving you can give me some money and fill in the form when we meet, or you can send a donation direct to:-

The Forever Friends Appeal
Royal United Hospital, Combe Park, Bath BA1 3NG

Cheques payable to "RFU Chaitable Fund (FFA)"

Don't forget to Gift Aid it - and mention me!

Prostate Cancer

Race Over - Time to call in the pledges.

First - a big thank you to all those who have made donations to the Prostate Cancer Charity online at my Just Giving page and those of you who have given me cash or cheques to pass on to the charity.

Second - a reminder of what it is all about.

March Aware
March is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

In the UK:

• Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men
• 250,000 men are living with prostate cancer
• 1 man dies from prostate cancer every hour.

The Prostate Cancer Charity provides:

• Funds for research
• Support to those affected
• Information - including email and telephone help lines.

This year there are 10 research projects at an investment of nearly £1.8M.

Neoadjuvant Androgen Deprivation Therapy
Recent research shows that using hormone therapy in conjunction with radiotherapy for treatment of advanced prostate cancer can reduce the potential side effects of radiotherapy including impotence and heart attack.

In The Lancet Dr Chris Parker said:-

"This trial confirms that NADT reduces mortality significantly after radiotherapy for high-risk prostate cancer.”

Prostate Cancer

Decision made - it is to be The Prostate Cancer Charity.

Thank you all of those who commented and emailed me after my earlier posting about choosing which charity to support. It has helped me decide.

RNLI
As an official sponsor of the Bath Half Marathon this would have been the easy choice with minimum work on my part. But:-

• RNLI will get the lion’s share of sponsorship of the run - perversely perhaps I want to support a charity that is not already involved
• The money is going to support Lifeguards - which to me is not the core activity of RNLI - rather than the boat rescue services
• I got no response to my email enquiry.

VSO
A small amount of money here might have a bigger impact than a larger sum to another charity. But:-

• Potential contributors have suggested that charity should begin at home - reducing my potential pot
• The volunteer that I thought I was sponsoring in Malawi appears to have changed - and I am unable to update you on what is happening
• There is no obvious link in time or location between this charity and the Bath Half Marathon.

The Prostate Cancer Charity
There are two links here - one personal and one timely:-

• My brother was diagnosed and treated successfully for prostate cancer
• March 2011 is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer for men. There is a genetic component but most men will get it eventually. There is an urgent need to develop a reliable method of screening. More research is required to find out why some prostate cancers are more aggressive than others and how this can be detected so that treatment can be focused on those most in need of it. Unfortunately available treatments can have unpleasant side effects.

How 2 Help
Today I have set up a “Just Giving” page for you to visit - and make a donation if you wish. You can use credit or debit cars or PayPal.

A couple of things I should point out:-

• If you make a donation now it is taken immediately and you cannot get it back if I don’t run the Half Marathon - you may prefer to wait until I have completed the run
• Just Giving charge 5% of the donation - which they take out of the gift aid - for administration and running their website. The card providers and PayPal also take a small cut.

Details of these costs are at Just Giving - what-it-costs

Give Generously

“Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore
Of nicely-calculated less or more.” - Wordsworth

.

Which Charity?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a runner entered into a long-distance race must be in want of sponsorship.

Everyone assumes that I have entered the Bath Half Marathon in order to raise money for a specific cause that I support. In actual fact the decision to enter came first - thought about helping a charity came later.
 
For many races - in particular the most famous and popular such as the London Marathon - it is almost impossible to gain an entry except through one of the major charities - who appear to blockbook places. To get one of these places you have to commit to raising several thousand pounds from your sponsors.

My choice of which charity to choose has come down to a final 3 candidates:-

• Lifeboats - RNLI
• Prostate Cancer - Cambridge
• Voluntary Service Overseas - VSO - Dr Becky Minting in Malawi

All these are charities that I support.

RNLI
It shocked me to discover that many people do not realise that the RNLI is dependent on volunteers to run its lifesaving activities and on donations and legacies for finance.

The volunteers regularly risk their lives putting to sea in the most dangerous conditions. And don’t always come home - the Mousehole lifeboat was lost with all hands on 19 December 1981.

Despite the Royal and National in its name the RNLI provides a service not just in UK waters but in the Republic of Ireland too.

The cost of running the RNLI is £123.5M a year. About £14k per hour.

This is the lead charity for the Bath Half Marathon so would be the easiest one for me to support.

Prostate Cancer - Cambridge
This is the most common cancer for men - mostly over age 50. There is a genetic component to susceptibility but most men will get it eventually. About 35,000 men were diagnosed with the cancer in 2006. More that 12,000 die of prostate cancer each year.

There is an urgent need to find a reliable test for use in national screening. This is one of the areas of research supported by Cambridge Cancer Reseach Fund The current test relies on measuring raised PSA levels. But 2 out of 3 men with raised PSA levels do not have the cancer. And it is possible to have the cancer without raised PSA.

The cancer also varies in the seriousness of its effects. In some cases a patient can have it for many years without serious harm - in others the cancer can grow and spread rapidly. Unfortunately the treatments available can have unpleasant side effects.

So more research is required into why some prostate cancers are more aggressive than others and how this can be detected accurately.

VSO - Dr Becky Minting in Malawi
Many of you may remember VSO as providing an interesting gap-year experience for students wishing to help out in third-world countries and to get something different on their CV.

Nowadays VSO depend on qualified and experienced volunteers to provide the most effective impact. The volunteer in this case is Dr Rebecca Mitting - Paediatrician - working in MZUZU Central Hospital.

MZUZU is the 3rd largest city in MALAWI and is capital of the Northern Province. Here there is no more than 1 doctor for 53,000 people.

The mortality rate for children under 5 years old is high. Main causes are:-

• Malaria
• Pneumonia
• Malnutrition
• Tuberculosis - largely due to HIV

In Malawi the HIV infection rate is 12%.

The hospital is overcrowded and under equipped. It includes:-

• Children’s Ward of 40 beds - usually about 100 patients
• Nursery for premature births - too small and lacking some basic equipment
• Nursery for slightly older children - small and overcrowded
• Under 5s Clinic - small booth - deals with 100+ children each day.

Before Dr Minting arrived in March there was no doctor there and the work was all done by clinical officers. Since her arrival she has:-

• Introduced a paediatric clinic twice a week for outpatients
• Set up a new High Dependency Unit for severe cases
• Introduced weekly Teaching sessions and daily Handover Meetings

With the Sister in charge of maternity she has applied for and obtained a VSO grant of £3000 to improve the services for newborn babies. The money will be spent on locally sourced but effective equipment such as ”Blantyre hotcots” incubators which will help to reduce the 26% death rate among admissions.


Help Me Choose
Three good causes. Which should I choose to support with the sponsorship for my run?

Help me decide. Post a comment.

Bath Post